A small audio speaker on the control pad? What is the point in that? These were my words when I first heard a speaker would be included on the PS4 control pad and now I humbly eat my words. (Nom, Nom, Nom!) We spend hundreds, possibly thousands of pounds on audio speakers, soundbars, televisions and gaming headsets that allow us to experience crisp, clear and crystal sounding games and this small speaker on the control pad couldn’t possibly add anything to an experience, could it?
Playing through The Last Of Us single player campaign I discovered audio logs that were beautifully voice acted and added to the atmosphere and experience of this gloomy and dark, post-apocalyptic world. A dead body discovered in a house next to some family photographs and two small objects covered beneath sheets suddenly makes a lot more sense when you hear the audio log playing from the control pad speaker as you continue to explore the house. The audio log recorder you have picked up and began to play in your hand is exactly what you control pad turns into and this subtle action allows a slightly deeper level of immersion in terms of sound and in particular audio logs.
Audio logs are nothing new and have been around in video games for a very long time. I used to hate coming across audio logs that would play while you were standing near them but as soon as you moved away from the, the sound grew quieter or stopped altogether.
Killzone Shadowfall does an excellent job of playing audio logs through the speaker on the control pad but a very memorable use of this speaker comes in the form of an indie game called Stick It To The Man. This humorous platform, puzzler uses the speaker on the control pad in an innovative and unique way. A gameplay feature is that you can read the minds of NPC’s in the game. The actual spoken thoughts of the characters are narrated through the control pad speaker and if the sticks are turned you can rewind or fast forward the thoughts of these characters. This mind reading feature is integral to you progressing through the game and solving the puzzles.
Where to next? The speaker on the control pad has already managed to be put to good use for the aforementioned games and hopefully it will continue to be put to good use in the future.
